BMW Group Canada Drives Support

MONTREAL – Today, high performance vehicles and high performance sport formalized a new relationship to support Canadian athletes as luxury automobile manufacturer BMW Group Canada and the Canadian Olympic Team revealed a four-year sponsorship deal for the coming quadrennial.

Announced through high-octane events in Montreal and Toronto, and which included Winter and Summer athletes, the deal signals yet another fuel-injection for Canadian high performance athletes and coaches, and will continue through the next two Olympic Games: Sochi 2014 and Rio 2016.

“Much like our Canadian Olympic heroes, BMW is an innovative performance brand with a legacy of excellence,” said Marcel Aubut, President of the Canadian Olympic Committee. “We are delighted to welcome this amazing corporation as an official National Partner of the Canadian Olympic Team and look forward to driving together toward an even more exciting future for our Canadian athletes.”

In addition to this partnership, BMW Group Canada will continue its high-performance support by sponsoring two National Sport Federations to bolster Canada’s world-class development in the sport community.

“The BMW Group, a company focused on performance and innovation, is the perfect partner for the Canadian Olympic Team, whose athletes strive for peak performance in every competition,” said Eduardo Villaverde, president and CEO, BMW Group Canada.  “Our two organizations share many of the same beliefs and values, and we believe working together will bring tremendous benefits to both of our teams.  Over the next four years, we look forward to creating innovative programs that provide substantial financial support to Canadian athletes.  Our retailers look forward to this as well; they will be a major force in our overall contributions and programming.  At the same time, we know that our associates and customers will be mightily engaged in this partnership, as well.”

“It’s very cool to be here and there’s a lot of pride in being associated with a high-quality brand like BMW,” said Roseline Filion, London 2012 Bronze Medallist in Diving. “It’s also a tremendous feeling to know that, once again, we’re seeing increased support for the amazing work athletes and coaches are doing 365 days a year. It’s a pretty exciting time to be a Canadian Olympic athlete.”

“More support for athletes and coaches is always great, especially when it comes from such a high-performance company like BMW,” said Antoine Valois-Fortier, London 2012 Bronze Medallist in Judo. “It really helps us athletes to know that we’ve got such amazing support behind us for the next four years. It lets us concentrate on improving every aspect of our game as we head toward Rio and beyond.”